News

Group meetings for Fall 2023: Tuesday, 8:30am, ENGR 402C

2023

August

- Dr. Vargis was awarded a USU Research Catalyst award entitled Generating Models of the Cardiac Wall to Elucidate the Relationship between Mechanical Properties and Heart Disease. These funds will support our research, as well as Emilee Rickabaugh's MS work.

- Congrats to Cassandra for being awarded her second URCO!

July

- Congrats to Emilee and Dillon for their recently published paper in ACS Biomaterials entitled "Engineering a Biomimetic In Vitro Model of Bruch’s Membrane Using Hagfish Slime Intermediate Filament Proteins." This paper represents the efforts of 2 undergraudate students for over 2 years and a lot of editing and another output of our collaboration with Dr. Justin Jones in the Biology Department.

- Chase's paper on the effects of micropatterning on retinal cell health has been published in Molecular Vision

June

- Tyler was awarded a graduate student fellowship from the Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium, congrats!

February

- All 3 of our ARVO abstracts were accepted. Chase, Teren, Dillon, and Dr. V are headed to New Orleans in April for ARVO 2023!

January

- Marshall Burrows was awarded Outstanding Junior and Sophia Hessami was award Outstanding Pre-Professional student from the BE department. Congrats to our undergraduate researchers!

- Dr. Vargis was awarded a pilot grant from USU's Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Research Center entitlted Evaluating the Effects of Beta-amyloid on Heart and Retinal Health. 


2022

December

- Cassandra DuBose received an URCO AND an EURP to support our work developing stochastic models of retinal blood vessel invasion!

October

- Congrats to Emilee and Dillon who won an award for their poster as this year's Hansen Life Sciences retreat!

August

- Welcome to new graduate students Emilee and Dillon! Emilee will be restarting our muscle project and Dillon will continue working on our NIH-funded eye research.

July

- Congrats to Emilee who received a graduate student fellowship from the Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium!

June

- Check out a new publication from our collaboration with Dr. David Britt in AntiViral Research.

May

- Emilee & Dillon + Chase presented at this year's ARVO in Denver, CO!

April

- Dr. Vargis won undergraduate research mentor of the year at USU!

January

- Check us out in the news!

  • Story on Dr. V's grant from the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research
  • Story on Dillon and Emilee's research project / URCOs

- Welcome to our research group Teren! We're excited you'll be doing your MS here!


2021

October

- Emilee and Dillon won Best Team Poster at IBEC for their poster "Hagfish Slime protein membranes as in vitro models of Bruch's membrane in the subretinal tissue."

- Dr. V was awarded a Research Fellowship from the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research for her project "Using Mentored Research Experiences to Build a Community of Inclusion for Engineering Transfer Students."

September

- Dillon was awarded an URCO for his proposal using hagfish silk to mimic retinal tissues. Congrats!

July

- Dr. Vargis' started her sabbatical. She'll be on the central coast of California at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo through June 2022!

April

- Two student groups from BENG 5890/6890 Tissue Engineering won awards at USU's Student Research Sympoisum:

  • Teeples T**, Kearnes M, Vargis E. Plant Tissue Decellularization for Complex Vascular Scaffold Applications (Tissue Engineering Class Project). USU’s Student Research Symposium. April 2021 – Undergraduate Oral Presentation Award in Engineering

  • Rickabaugh E**, Pace B**, Peterson T, E Vargis. Hagfish protein threads as three dimensional in vitro scaffolds for skeletal muscular tissue (Tissue Engineering Class Project). USU’s Student Research Symposium. April 2021 – Undergraduate Poster Presentation Award in Engineering (yes that's Emilee in there....)

- Should this section be renamed "Recent Emilee News?" Anyway, Emilee received an EURP to support her retinal research...sheesh!

March

- Aaaand, Emilee was also awarded an URCO for Summer 2021! She's been busy...

- Emilee won a scholarship from the Utah Engineers Council!

- Emilee Rickabaugh was selected as Outstanding Junior from the Department of Biological Engineering!

February

- Kelsey Bradshaw received a Travel Grant from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology for May's annual meeting!

January

- Congrats to Kelsey Bradshaw (undergrad) who has been selected to present at this year's Utah Research on Capitol Hill!


2020

December

- Our collaboration with Dr. David Britt's research group has resulted in a new publication in Scientific Reports.

November

- Check out our newest publication in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering based on the work of Matt Clegg (MS student) and Jacob Barney (undergrad student)!

June

- Three new BE undergraduate students have been trained to work in the lab: Jamen Cannon, Emilee Rickabaugh, and Dillon Weatherston! Welcome aboard!

April

- MORGAN BISHOP WAS AWARDED THE PEAK PRIZE: UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR - a university-wide recognition of her research! Check out the article and congrats Morgan!!!

- Kelsey Bradshaw received an EURP to support her computational simulations of blood vessel growth in the retina. Congrats!

- Dr. V was awarded tenure!

March

- Farhad's final paper from his PhD was published in the Journal of Biological Engineering

February

- Dr. V provided the keynote presentation at this year's UCUR: https://research.usu.edu/ucur/


2019

November

- Matt successfully defended his MS...congrats! clegg

October

- Dr. V's interview for the College of Engineering was published.

August

- Check out our newest paper in the Journal of Biophotonics! Here we determined how growth phase and media type affect Raman spectra of mycobateria...congrats to Cindy, Morgan, and Jake!

July

- WOW, two more URCOs for Tessa and Eryn! Congrats!

- Check out our paper in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering!

April

- Congratulations to Morgan AND Tessa for being awarded EURPs from the College of Engineering!

- Lori successfully defended her masters! Congrats!

March

- Cindy, Jake, and Morgan's paper has been published in Electrophoresis!

- Congrats to Morgan for being awarded an URCO!

- Matt's master's proposal was approved!

February

- Charles' paper has been published in BioMed Research International!


2018

December

- Farhad successfully defended his PhD and has accepted a position at the Neural Stem Cell Institute!

October

- Farhad's paper has been accepted for publication in Lab on a Chip - check it out here! And it was selected as one of their HOT articles, due to high scores received at peer review.

August

- Lori's and Matt's abstracts were both accepted as oral presentations at ASGSR.

May

- Charles successfully defended his MS! Congrats!

April

- Chase Paterson won Best Poster Presentation in the Engineering Discipline at USU's Student Research Symposium

January

- Dr. V's final paper from her PhD (!) has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

- Farhad's abstract to ARVO has been accepted as a poster. See you in Hawaii!


2017

December

- Chase has also been awarded an EURP from the College in support of her work! Congrats again!

- Matt Clegg is our newest concurrent MS student - welcome Matt!

November

- Chase has been awarded an URCO for her proposal "Investigating the Growth of Primary Porcine RPE Cells on
Recombinant Spider Silk Membranes"

- Dr. V presented Cindy's new Raman microscopy system at the Axiom's New Approaches to Light Microscopy Workshop at Harvard University

October

- Dr. V and members of USU's Society of Women Engineers presented at the College's Industrial Advisory Board
swe IAB 17

September

- Check out these SWEET new microscopes! Ten Laxco SeBa4's are currently hanging out with Dr. V's BENG 1000 class (Intro to Undergrad Research & Design) and will be available for use throughout our entire department!

seba4 microscope

August

- Cindy successfully defended her PhD, congrats Dr. Hanson!

July

- Dr. Nick Roberts (PI), Dr. Vargis and others from the Colleges of Engineering and Science have been awarded a Focused Ion Beam from the US Department of Energy.

June

- We ran another successful Engineering State Challenge Session (thanks Cindy and Lori!)

May

- Farhad's paper has been accepted to Molecular Vision! Check it out here.

- Cindy was awarded a School of Graduate Studies Dissertation Fellowship from the summer! Congrats!

April

- Our article "Exploiting Self-Organization in Bioengineered Systems: A Computational Approach" with Dr. Nick Flann has been published in the Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. Check it out!

-Cindy wins the Graduate Poster Presentation Award for the Engineering Discipline at USU's Student Research Symposium. 246 students participated and only 22 received an award. Congrats!

March

- Dr. Vargis was awarded a Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium Research Infrastructure Award entitled “Simulating the Space Radiation Environment on Human Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle.”

February

- Dr. V is the BE Department's Graduate Mentor of the 2016. Thank you!

- Cindy's paper has been published online in the Special Issue "Applications of Raman Spectroscopy in Biosensors" in Sensors! Check it out!

January

Matt Clegg award

- Matt Clegg wins "Best Podium Presentation" at the BMES Regional Meeting for his talk "In vitro Antioxidant Treatment Model for Oxidative Stress in Microgravity." Congrats Matt!

- Lori Caldwell is officially a MS Plan A student! She will be working on understanding how radiation affects muscle growth and differentiation.


2016

December

- Dr. Vargis has been elected a Councilor-at-Large of the Institute of Biological Engineering Council! Check ibe.org for more details and to check out more information about the annual meeting in SLC March 30-April 1.

November

- Cindy and Mike's Applied Spectroscopy is online too!

- Cindy, Nate and Mike's JoVE paper is now online!

October

- What an amazing TEDxUSU experience! Dr. Vargis at Tedx

- Ian and Katie presented at BMES in Minneapolis.

- Cindy successfully defended her proposal! Congrats Cindy!

August

- Cindy's paper has been accepted to Applied Spectroscopy! Check back soon for more info.

July

-Dr. V will be presenting at this year's TedX at USU. October 28th, 12-3:30.

- Charles received another fellowship from the Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium. Congrats!

- Aaron's paper has been published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering!

June

- Cindy, Nate and Mike's paper is "in press" in JoVE. Congrats! We were filmed during the summer.

May

- USU's BMES Student Chapter is officially chartered!

- A number of new students have joined Dr. V's lab for the summer: Matt Clegg, Zach Jensen, Andrew Merkley, Chase Paterson and Cameron Zabriskie. They are all undergrads in Biological Engineering.

April

- Dallon, Jared and Justus received an URCO for their senior design project "Microscope Growth Chamber"

February

- Cindy presented a talk at SPIE: Photonics West

January

- Cindy has been named Graduate Researcher of the Year by the Department of Biological Engineering! Congrats!!

- Nate, Donald and Cindy's paper has been published. Great work!


2015

December

- Lori receives an URCO for her project "Development of In Vitro Bruch’s Membrane for Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Growth!"

November

- Aaron successfully delivers his MS presentation

- Charles wins 3rd place for his poster at the annual meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research!

- Cindy presented a poster at AES at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

October

- Cindy wins the Poster Award in Devices and Sensors at nanoUtah 2015.

September

- Cindy presented a poster at SciX presented by FACCS in Providence, RI.

Charles H. won an award

Charles wins an award for his poster at the Hansen Life Science Retreat (2015)

- Charles wins a poster award at the Hansen Life Sciences Retreat.

August

- Charles is awarded a Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium Fellowship of $15,000! Congrats Charles!

June

Knights Templar Check Presentation (6/2015)

Knights Templar Check Presentation (6/2015)

- Local news coverage for our lab's retinal research projects. Check out the Herald Journal!

- Articles published in Utah State Today on Dr. Vargis' ORAU and Knights Templar Awards. Check them out.

- Two articles on recent awards on College of Engineering website, for the ORAU and Knights Templar Awards.

May

- Cindy was awarded an SPIE Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship! Great job Cindy!

- Dr. Vargis received the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)!

- Cindy's report in Laser Focus World on our in-house Raman system has been published. Check it out!

- Our Research Catalyst grant, with Drs. David Britt (PI) and Lisa Berreau (Co-I), was funded.

April

- Nate successfully defended his Master's! Congrats!

- Nate's abstract to the Biophotonics Imaging for Medicine: A Digital Conference has been accepted! The title of his talk is "Raman Microscope System for the Detection of B-Cell Malignancies using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering."

- Great job to Luke, Brittany and Rob on receiving an URCO grant for their project " Effects of Leachables and Extractables in Single Use Bioprocess Containment Systems on Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Growth and Quality."

- Congrats to the Vargis Lab for receiving a Knights Templar Eye Foundation Career Starter Grant!

March

- Cindy and Nate's review paper has been officially published! Read it

February

- Congrats to many of our lab members for getting into USU's Student Research Symposium

Oral presentations

Aaron Fronk: Culturing the Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Luke Jarvis: Effects of Leachables and Extractables in Single Use Bioprocess Containment Systems on Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Growth and Quality
Nate Israelsen: Multiplex B-Cell Cancer Marker Detection Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
Cindy Hanson: Use of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy to Identify Mycobacteria

Posters

Charles Harding: Characterization and Prevention of Microgravity-Induced Atrophy of Muscle Cells
Farhad Farjood: Protein and Gene Expression Alterations in Degenerating Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells
Lori, Katie, Harsh: Optimal Growth of RPE Cells to Understand Disease and Environmental Stresses on the Retina

- Welcome Farhad Farjood to the Vargis Lab!

January

- Congrats to Nate and Cindy on their accepted review article in The Scientific World Journal. Read it

- Congrats to Peter Haight on receiving an URCO for his project titled "Cellular Uptake & Distribution of Gold Nanoparticles"

- Congrats to Dr. Vargis' Senior Design Team (Sean Bedingfield, Sara Gertsch, Stephanie Lawanto). Their abstract "Targeted Drug Delivery System for Kidney and/or Liver Failure Patients using Human Serum Albumin" was accepted to both the National Conference for Undergraduate Research and the Institute of Biological Engineering's Annual Meeting.

- PhD student Charles Harding joins the Vargis Lab. Welcome Charles!


2014

October

- Cindy and Nate presented posters at nanoUtah. Cindy's poster was "Use of SERS Magnetic Nanoparticles to Concentrate and Identify Mycobacteria." Nate's was on " Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Nanoprobes for Detecting Hematological Malignancies."

September

- Donald, Nate and Cindy attended SciX presented by FACSS in Reno, NV. Nate gave a podium presentation on "Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Based Detection of Leukemia Cell Surface Markers." Cindy gave a talk on "Application of SERS Magnetic Nanoparticles to Concentrate, Detect, and Identify Mycobacteria." They drove to Reno, volunteered at the registration table, made contacts with vendors and colleagues, and gave great presentations! Great job team!

June

- Dr. Vargis became an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Synthetic Biomanufacturing Institute. We now have a lab space on Innovation Campus which will be used for bioreactor studies and some cell culture work. Thanks to Scott Hinton and Thermo Fisher Scientific for their help and ongoing support.

April

- Donald Wooley was awarded a SURCO for his project " Development of a SERS Library for Detection of Unknown Food Contaminants." Congrats Donald!

- USU Graduate Research Symposium: Cindy gave a podium talk on " A Simple Method for Bacterial Concentration, Detection and Identification Using SERS Magnetic Nanoparticles." Nate presented a poster on " Design of a Multiplex, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Immunoassay for Detection and Diagnosis of Hematological Malignancies." Aaron presented a poster on "Evaluating the Pecten Oculi's Effectiveness as a Medical Microfluidic Device."

March

- Dr. Vargis presented an invited talk for BioOptics World on "Spectroscopy Applications in the Life Sciences"

- Two URCOs awarded, congrats!

  1. Dr. Vargis' Senior Design Team (Sean Bedingfield, Sara Gertsch, Stephanie Lawanto) for " Targeted Drug Delivery System for Kidney and Liver Failure Patients using Human Serum Albumin"
  2. Stephanie Lawanto for "Effects of Extracellular Matrix on the Growth of Neuroendocrine Tumors"

January

- Dr. Vargis was awarded a Research Catalyst Grant from USU for $20,000 for her proposal "Targeted, Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Nanotags for Detecting B-cell Lymphoma"

- MS student Nate Israelsen joins the Vargis Lab

- Dr. Vargis' paper from her graduate work was published in Acta Paediatrica


2013

December

- Stephanie Lawanto was chosen for the Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP) for her project " Effects of Extracellular Matrix on the Growth of Neuroendocrine Tumor." Congrats Stephanie!

- Dr. Vargis' paper from her postdoc at the Oak Ridge National Lab was accepted for publication in Biomaterials

August

- PhD student Cindy Hanson joins the Vargis Lab

- MS student Aaron Fronk joins the Vargis Lab

- Dr. Vargis starts at the Biological Engineering Department at Utah State!